The product was developed by food-tech company, Right Treat, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based retailer Green Monday.
The firm began selling OmniMeat in hotels and restaurants in Singapore, which led to demand for its retail pack.
Dorothy Ma, the firm’s development and communications manager explained how foodservice was a crucial stepping stone to retail.
“We hoped to let consumers try OmniMeat which is cooked by professional chefs and have a concept of how this plant-based meat taste like. Once they have a concept of this new plant-based ingredients, they create a need and want to cook it at home, so we launched the retail pack afterwards.”
Ma believes OmniMeat will be widely accepted in this region: “We think the Asian consumer is happy to try the plant-based meat as they aware that plant-based option is much healthier and friend to earth.”
The firm spent two years developing OmniMeat, which comprised of a proprietary blend of plant-based protein from peas, non-GMO soy, shiitake mushrooms and rice.
Ma added: “OmniMeat is designed to be an all-purpose plant-based meat analogue that is nutritional superior and environmentally friendly.”
It is cholesterol, antibiotic and hormone-free, and 86% lower in saturated fat and 66% lower in calories than traditional pork, while being much higher in fiber, 260% higher in calcium and 127% higher in iron.
Sustainable Singapore
To cater to the popular demand in Singapore, Green Monday launched the OmniMeat retail pack in various channels including FairPrice, ShengSiong, HAO mart, Prime, Yes Natural, Four Seasons Organic & Speciality and Redmart.com. It retails for S$7.55 (US$5.57).
David Yeung, founder of OmniMeat and Green Monday said: "The name of OmniMeat means it's omni-purpose in application. In terms of texture, it is succulent, tender and juicy and can be seasoned in many ways. It perfectly caters to Eastern flavors and culinary cultures,
“The versatility of OmniMeat is a dream to both vegetarians and meat-lovers as they can freely and creatively incorporate it into infinite healthier and more environmental friendly recipes.”
Besides Hong Kong and Singapore, OmniMeat is also available in Thailand, Mainland China, and Taiwan.
Ma told us there were plans to expand to UK and Japan in the first half of 2020, as “(we) see that there are huge vegetarian demands in Japan and the UK’s vegan market is very mature.”